Campus Life announces rename of Student Health Service to Deacon Health
The Division of Campus Life is excited to announce that Student Health Service has been renamed Deacon Health as of January 1, 2024. During the global health pandemic in 2020, Student Health Service provided leadership in managing the significant challenges posed by this global health crisis. Now under a new name, the committed team of Deacon Health professionals is ready to return to its core mission of providing high-quality medical care and support to undergraduate, graduate and professional students, including our student-athletes on the Reynolda campus.
The new name reflects our strong connection to the current and future generations of Deacs that we are here to serve and educate. This shift represents our commitment to alignment with the newly articulated University strategic framework, which focuses on educating the whole person. Deacon Health focuses beyond services and extends to holistic health.
The Deacon Health team members are talented medical providers who also seek to educate our students for optimal health and wellbeing as they build a life grounded in Pro Humanitate. In February of 2023, Executive Director Cathy Higginbotham brought new leadership and vision to Deacon Health. Her student-focused philosophy has a developmental lens, promoting health literacy so that our students become informed consumers of health services. Cathy is proud to work alongside the Deacon Health leadership team: medical director Jessica St. John, director of nursing James Perrott, and associate director of business operations Melissa Walker. Together, they oversee the team of five primary care providers, ten nurses, three certified medical assistants, and four support staff. With an onsite pharmacist, lab director and x-ray radiologic technician, Deacon Health is well-resourced to meet student needs.
Deacon Health offers students a wide range of medical and wellbeing care: general physicals, annual reproductive health exams, immunizations and allergy injections, routine illness and injury care, and psychiatric support. In addition to these fundamental medical services, Deacon Health provides pharmaceutical and laboratory services for on-campus and at-home providers, preparatory preventative counseling, and support for students traveling for study abroad. Additionally, we maintain community partnerships for benefits such as STI clinics and obtaining convenient and low-cost medications. Students seeking medical care are encouraged to schedule an appointment through their student portal.
To learn more about Deacon Health’s staff and the services available to our students, visit deaconhealth.wfu.edu.